Simple Steps to a Sustainable Business

Hi, my name is Adela Mei, I’m a business coach, and I support small businesses with their digital transformation and help them grow more sustainably.

Now, this video is offering some things that you can do if you’re mainly a digital or remote business and you think, maybe I’m not really having an impact on the planet, I’m not really sure this is for me all this sustainability talk.

So actually, even if our work is 100% online, 100% digital, we still do have an impact on the planet. And there are things that we can do. So I’m gonna walk you through 10 Quick Tips for things that you can do right now on your own, and you can write them into an action plan if you want to. And this will form the beginning of your trip to being a more sustainable business.

Web Hosting

So let’s dive right in. So I’m gonna start with talking about web hosting. And I make an assumption here that if you run a business, you have a website, you’re on social media, you’re online, doing something on the internet. You may not know but the internet’s carbon footprint has been estimated about 2% to 4% of global emissions. Now, that doesn’t really mean anything without context. That’s the same, or more, than the entire aviation industry. And when I learned that, that was enough to stop and think, okay, most of my work is remote. A lot of my coaching I do online, and I’d you know look and see the planes flying and think, yeah, that’s how we’re going to reduce emissions, it’s all the planes, it’s aviation, it’s transport.

Well, actually, not so. The internet really is a growing area in this digital transformation we’re going through, and the internet actually has a physical infrastructure. It’s housed in data centers. These data centers use energy, electricity, water for cooling, they have backup, the internet runs 24/7. Remember, our websites, social media, it’s 24/7, you can’t turn off the switch to save energy. So for me, that was a bit of a wake up call when I really started understanding that these data centers, and that’s a growing part of the problem with this huge, rapid growth of digital transformation.

So the first thing you can do is look at your web hosting. And there’s two main web hosting companies I’m going to recommend that are run on 100% green energy. One is Krystal, KRYSTAL. They’ve been green since their beginning. I’ve followed them, I’ve been with them, I have reseller hosting with them, they have been planting trees, they are on mission for running a sustainable business, I can’t recommend them enough. The second company would be SiteGround that also have very strong sustainability policies and commitments to reaching net zero.

So if you’re with one of the other hosting companies, the bigger ones that may not be running on renewable energy, just do a switch. It’s a low hanging fruit. It’s something that you can do and say, yep, I’ve done one action.

Data Storage

Okay, next thing is data storage. Oh, well, we could talk for hours on there, I’ll keep this one short. Everything is stored on your computer or in the cloud, or on social media or video, it all is stored in the data centers again. So here’s something like researched. 330 billion gigabytes of data is produced every day. Half his video content, followed by social media and gaming that forms 75%.

So I was thinking, I’ll just put files on the cloud and keep my computer running faster, right? Keep it clearer. Actually time to have a regular cleanup, adopt a housekeeping policy, delete files you don’t need anymore, move them on to hard drive. Don’t just use the cloud as a dumping ground because that’s actually just adding to the problem. Data storage problem.

There are tools you can use, I use Clean my Mac, because I work on a Mac, and that basically will run through my computer, delete bins, it will identify really big files, really old files, and just help with duplications and it helps to clean stuff up. But really you want to be doing this every day. Delete things after you are finished with them. Don’t hoard. Don’t data hoard.

Equipment and Hardware

Number three equipment and hardware. So wowzers 40 million tons of E waste is generated every year. 4o million tons. The equivalent of 800 laptops a second, being thrown away. 800 laptops a second. So here are things that you can do. Always apply these principles of reduce, reuse, recycle. So, don’t buy equipment if you don’t need it. Try and repurpose your equipment if it’s outdated, I changed my iPhone recently and I use my old one now as a security camera, and my new phone as my phone. So I didn’t want to trade it in, I wasn’t been offered very much money for it. I wanted to keep it as a backup. So I’m repurposing it.

Apple have a recycle scheme. Microsoft have a recycle scheme. Always think. Don’t just take it down the dump, where it probably goes to landfill. Not always but sometimes. So just start being mindful about the equipment you’re buying, and what happens to it afterwards.

Energy

Next energy. Most of us if we’re working remotely or digital have a home office. So we’re running electricity at home. That electricity is powering our computers, for our internet and all of the things that are powered in the home. Switch to green energy provider – simple. The best one in the UK absolutely 100% renewable is Good Energy goodenergy.co.uk and reduce consumption. We all know this. Turn things off when you’re not using them. Turn lights off when you’re not using them. Be mindful of that.

I actually have it as a practice. Every evening I pack everything down. Everything goes off, including the router and the modem. I want a quiet house. Everything’s off. In the morning when I start my work day, everything goes on. It’s in my routine now I do it without even thinking.

Printing and Paper Usage

Okay, printing and paper usage. So a lot of us may be 100% digital. I still print some things and I like to write in paper. So buy recycled paper, and then recycle it when you’re finished with it. With your printers. see if you can get recyclable inks. When you finish that cartridge, send it back to the supplier. Dell, HP all of them will take those back and recycle them properly. Reduce packaging where possible. So reducing all the paper use is hopefully doing our bit to reduce deforestation. And getting those cartridges recycled properly means they’re not going and contributing to pollution.

Office Kitchen

When you’re working at home you’ve probably got a home office, and home kitchen so work and home life get a little bit of overlap, but just think about in your, let’s call it your office kitchen, what consumables do you have in there? Your tea, your coffee, your sugar? Is that all Fairtrade organic? Is it local? Just have a look and do your bit. Can you get local milk? Organic milk? What is it that you’re buying? Are you wasting things? Are you composting? Just have a look have a look around and apply this to your to your lifestyle as well.

Cleaning

Talking about cleaning, now cleaning products are a big one. Most cleaning products are toxic, they end up down the sink or the toilet, into the water system, into the watercourse affecting wildlife. So easy wins, switch to eco friendly products. Now a lot of people say they’re just more expensive well, maybe use less. You know, wash with water first, use a cleaning product. Just start being more mindful of what you’re doing, what you’re using and what you’re putting down into ultimately our watercourses.

Travel and Mileage

So travel. Again, most of us have gone remote and digital. If there is travel involved say you’re flying to see clients or driving to see clients, just be mindful of your mileage. I’m not here to say stop driving, cycle everywhere, walk everywhere. That’s not practical. But just be mindful of what you’re doing.

I am actually a very strong advocate for going out and meeting people in person. I think it’s hugely important for clients mental health. I noticed going 100% digital really affected me and my business. So now I go out, I’m a speaker, I’m a workshop facilitator, I’m a coach. I go out and I do that in person.

Compliance and Future Proofing

So, compliance and future proofing your business. So this may not be applicable to everybody, but nowadays if you want a bank loan, if you want sponsorship funding, grant funding, we are being required to have at least a sustainability policy and environmental policy. So getting these things in place mean that you can just get ahead and be ready.

Again, maybe you are bidding and you are submitting tenders, you will need some sort of environmental policy, sustainability clause in there, moving forward. So this is just getting ahead of the game and future proofing. Again these are small wins and things you can do.

Influencing Others

Last one, one of my favorites actually, is influencing others. So showcase your green credentials, attract those green clients. I did a little bit of research into this and an article in Forbes said that younger generations Gen Z are more more likely to demand sustainable green services. And they’re really leading the way into requiring corporations to have a carbon footprint and be mindful of the environment.

So times are changing, and you know, we need to keep up with this. Showcasing our green credentials means we can influence others, we can look good, and we want actually people to know that we’re a green business. We need to sing about it.

I heard this term the other week at a workshop, green hushing, people being ashamed of not doing enough for sustainability. Therefore, they don’t want to tell people about it because they feel they might be criticized for not doing enough. I can’t support that. We are all here on the planet, doing the best that we can one step at a time.

So my approach to all of this is, if we can just remember that our own health and wellbeing is connected to the planetary health and wellbeing, that’s why we’re doing it, one step at a time. That’s why we’re doing it one step at a time.

So I hope this was useful. I offer sustainability coaching and consulting. I offer sustainability business reviews. I also offer sustainability action plans and environmental management systems. Get in touch if you just want to talk through your ideas, because this really is one step at a time and we’re all in this together.

And please forward this to anyone you think will find it useful and thank you for watching and good luck on your green journey. Just remember it’s one step at a time. You’re not alone. There’s plenty of resources out there, and there are plenty of things that you can do that won’t cost the Earth. They will help to protect the Earth.